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User blog:SPARTAN 119/Arya Stark (Game of Thrones) vs "The Thief" (The Invincible Soldier)
Arya Stark, the princess of the North who traveled Westeros in search for revenge after most of her family was murdered. VS The Thief, a young girl forced into a life of crime, rescued by and fell in love with a mercenary... but was later forced to kill him in a tragic twist of fate. WHO IS DEADLIEST? =Combatants= Arya Stark Arya Stark is the second daughter of Lord Eddard "Ned" Stark and Lady Catelyn Stark of Winterfell, growing up in the castle of Winterfell along with her brothers and sisters, Robb, Sansa, Bran, and Rickon, as well as her bastard half-brother Jon Snow. From childhood, Arya was a fiercely independent girl, with no interest in "ladylike" pursuits, instead having an interest in weapons and warfare, and a desire to learn to sword fight, unlike her sister Sansa, who she has a strained relationship with. Arya is close to Jon, who sees her as, like him, the "outcast" of the family. It is Jon her gives Arya her sword, a rapier, which she names Needle, stating that she can "finally enjoy her needlework". During her time at Winterfell, she iS also given a dire wolf pup, one of six adopted by the Stark family. Arya names the pup Nymeria after a famous warrior Queen. After Ned Stark is named Hand of the King to King Robert Baratheon and Sansa is betrothed to Robert's son, Joffery, Arya travels to King's Landing. On the way, she meets has her first run-in with future king Joffery Baratheon, an incident which leads to Nymeria biting his arm, and Joffery, being unable to find Nymeria, order Sansa's wolf, Lady executed instead. The incident would be the beginning of Arya's lifelong hatred for Joffery and his retainers. During her time at King's Landing, she learns the Bravossi style of rapier fighting from master swordsman Syrio Forel, who, in addition to regular training, also has her chase and try to catch cats around to the Red Keep of King's Landing in order to train her agility. Ned Stark discovers that Joffery is not, in fact, King Robert's son, but rather the bastard son of his wife, Cersei Lannister's incestuous relationship with her brother, and attempts to inform Robert, but before he can do so, he is killed by a boar in a hunting accident. This leads to Joffery assuming the throne, and orders Eddard Stark, as well as Arya arrested. Her father is taken into custody, but Syrio holds off the guards armed only with a wooden sword, allowing Arya to escape. Meanwhile, Arya's brother Robb declares himself and independent king of the North, leading to a civil war in Westeros. Arya flees to the stable, where men were to meet her and take her back to Winterfell, but they were assassinated by Joffery. A stable boy enters, surprising Arya, and driving her to impale him on her sword. Arya flees the scene and lives for an unspecified period of time on the streets of King's Landing, until she witnesses the trial of her father in a central square. Eddard confesses to treason, on the false promise of mercy, but Joffery instead has him beheaded. Arya is confronted by Yoren, a recruiter for the Nights Watch, who cuts her hair with a dagger, and forces her to come with him, smuggling her out disguised as a boy, along with several Night's Watch recruits, including Gendry, blacksmith's apprentice who is actually a bastard son of Robert Baratheon. Arya journeys along with Yoren and the Night's Watch recruits north through the contested Riverlands. Arya quickly bonds with Gendry, and while she is bullied by a couple of boys, a baker's apprentice known as "Hot Pie" and a boy named Lommy "Greenhands", during her travels, Arya befriends both of them. At a lake in the Riverlands known as The God's Eye, Arya and the others are attacked by a group of Lannister men-at-arms led by Amory Lorch. The incident results in the death of both Yoren and Lommy, the latter of whom is murdered by a soldier named Polliver using Arya's own rapier. Arya, Gendry, and "Hot Pie" are taken to the ruined fortress of Harrenhal, currently commanded by Gregor Clegane, who they witness torturing several innocents. Arya and the others are rescued from this by Lord Tywin Lannister, and for a time, Arya becomes his cupbearer. Later, all three captives from the "God's Eye" escape, and are taken in for a time by the Brotherhood Without Banners, a group of soldiers who fight to protect the peasants of the Riverlands. Unfortunately, Arya's luck takes a turn for the worst again when the Brotherhood betray Gendry and sell him out to Melisandre, priestess of the religion of the "Lord of Light", and adviser to Stannis Baratheon, rival claimant to the throne. Arya and "Hot Pie" part ways after leaving the brotherhood. Shortly afterwards, Arya is taken prisoner by Sandor "The Hound" Clegane, who take her to a pair of castles known as the Twins, intending to ransom her back to her family. Sandor's plans go awry when House Frey, rulers of "The Twins" orchestrate the "Red Wedding, in which Robb Stark, his wife Talisa, Arya's mother, Catelyn, and several important Northern noblemen are assassinated, while their troops are ambushed and slaughtered in their camps. Arya and Sandor arrive during the aftermath of the incident, and Arya catches a glimpse of her dead brother, his head having been severed and the head of his pet dire wolf, Grey Wind, sown on instead. Soon after witnessing her the Frey soldiers mutilate her brother's body, she and Sandor encounter a group of Frey soldiers, laughing around a campfire. Pretending to be a in need of food, Arya walks up to them, and stabs one of them in the back of the neck with a dagger she took from the Hound. The other three try to attack her, but the Hound kills all three of them. Arya then picks up a coin she used to distract one of them and whispers Valar Morghulis, in tribute to Bravossi god of death, who she now considers the one true god. During the forth season, the series fast-forwards two years, to where Sandor and Arya are now travelling partners with a tense-at-best relationship. Arya encounters Polliver at a tavern and attacks him. Arya and Sandor managed to kill all of the soldiers in the tavern, before Arya takes Needle back from Polliver, and impales him through the neck. Sandor and Arya remain travelling partners, Sander intending to take her to her relatives in the Vale of Arryn, only to find them dead upon their arrival, prompting Arya to laugh out loud at the Hound's continued bad luck. At about this time, Arya also learns of Joffery's poisining, but feels no satisfaction, wishing the she had instead been the one to kill him. Sandor and Arya then encounter Brienne of Aryth, who attacks Sandor, who finally is killed, knocked off a cliff after an extended duel. Arya finds the wounded Hound at the bottom of the cliff, who begs her to mercy-kill him. Instead, Arya steals his money and leaves him to die. Arya is last seen on a ship bound for Braavos at the end of season 4. In the books, she goes on to join a guild of assassins known as the "Faceless Men", worshippers of the Braavossi god of death, who teach her a variety of assassination techniques, and give her access to a variety of magic masks capable of changing the appearance of the user, but only with the sacrifice of their own blood. The Thief The main character in the music video "The Invincible Soldier" by Jun Maeda, an anime and video game soundtrack composer and singer Nagi Yanagi, is an unnamed female thief living either in medieval Europe or a fantasy world very similar to medieval Europe. The thief is assumed to be an orphan, and was forced to join a gang of thieves since childhood, stealing and killing in order survive. The thief was often beaten by the leader of the gang (described in the music as "aniki" or older brother- as gang leaders are often referred to in Japan), if she refused to give him a large cut of her loot. One day, a traveling soldier, likely a mercenary with a reputation for being "invincible" in battle encounters the gang and kills all of them, save for the female thief, who he believes to be a victim. Telling him she had nowhere to go, the Thief joins the "Invincible Soldier", wandering the world with him and becoming his apprentice. Her original intent was to learn as much as she could about combat, then leave and possibly kill the mercenary, but in time, the Thief fell in love with the "Invincible Soldier", and stayed with him until her old habits caught up with her and she attempted to steal a sword from a blacksmith's shop. The blacksmith spotted the thief's actions, and she was forced to kill him. The thief expected to be killed by the "Invincible Soldier" before she could react, but instead, he challenged her to a duel. The two of them fought, and the Thief killed the mercenary in battle. After she killed him, she realized he was fighting with his non-dominant hand, intentionally allowing her a chance to defeat him. After which, the Thief looks down on the soldier's fallen body and sadly reflects on her actions in life, saying "perhaps things would have been better if we had met some other way". =Weapons= Swords Braavosi Rapier "Needle" (Arya) Needle is the sword of Arya Stark, a Braavossi rapier with a length of 30 inches according to the official replica based on the prop used in the TV series. The weapon has a thin double-edged blade designed primarily rapid, accurate thrusts and a cruciform guard. The blade also has a "half-ring" hand guard to aid in parrying attacks (which is not present on the replica pictured for some reason, but will be for the purposes of this match). Longsword (Thief) The term "longsword" refers to a longer sword than the arming sword, while having the same basic shape of the arming sword, but having a length of up to about one and a half meters, designed more for thrusting, but still capable of cutting. The sword was used from the mid 1300s to the mid 1500s. The weapon was also known as a "hand and a half", as it can be used one or two handed. The Longsword fell out of favor in military service starting around the 1520s, with the introduction of the Swiss Sabre. 119's Edge The Thief's longsword, for its greater reach and durability. Daggers Dirk (Arya) Arya is seen using a dagger similar to a dirk, a type of dagger used primarily as a thrusting weapon. The weapon is best known as being used by the Scottish Highlanders, being worn as part of traditional Highlander clothing. The highlanders would often wield the dirk with a small shield with a spike in the center known as a targe. Cinquedea (Thief) The Cinquedea is a type of Italian dagger or short sword with a broad blade about as wide as a man's hand where the blade met the guard (cinquedea- Italian, lit. five fingers). The blade was thick and heavy, often with multiple fullers, and could be up to 28 inches long, though The Thief's cinquedea appeared to be close to the lower end of cinquedea lengths, about 10 inches in length. The cinquedea was intended primarily for thrusting, and could leave a wide wound with its large blade. 119's Edge While Arya's dirk would be the more effective weapon against an armored adversary, in this case, neither side is wearing armor (except for the Thief's bracers, which do not cover the primary targets of a dagger), both weapons will be able to easily pierce the light clothing of their targets. The Thief's cinquedea, for this reason, takes a slight edge over Arya's dirk-like dagger, as it can create a wider would and potentially cause a quicker bleed out. Slight Edge: The Thief. =Technique= Arya Stark Arya was trained by Syvio Forel in the Braavosi art of rapier fighting, known as the "Water Dance", which is known for its rapid fluid movements, intended to evade attacks from a less agile swordsman, such as a typical Westerossi knight. The style primarily focuses on rapid, accurate thrusting attacks, and fast dodges and parries. The Thief The Thief is shown to be a capable swordswoman, as well as skilled in the us of her dagger. She tends to favor rapid, powerful slashing attacks aimed at the throat with the intent of causing the target to bleed to death in seconds. The thief is known to be proficient enough with a blade to kill an armored, armed adversary, and she indeed once killed an expert swordsman, though he was using his non-dominant hand at the time. The Thief is also capable of draw-cutting in a manner similar to the Japanese art of iaido, in spite of using a European longsword, and seems to favor using her cinquedea in an icepick grip. 119's Edge Arya Stark takes the edge in terms of technique, having trained under a master swordsman, whereas the Thief had little training, though she comes not far behind, having learned from experience. =X-Factors= Explanations In terms of combat experience, The Thief takes the clear edge, having spent much of her life stealing and killing, and then became the apprentice of a travelling swordsman giving her much experience in combat, compared to Arya, who only spent about two years away from her home, and only engaging in combat at irregular intervals. Also, most of the people Arya actually killed (thus far in the TV series, anyway), she caught by surprises and did not engage them in direct combat. In terms of training, however, Arya takes the edge with her training from master swordsman Sylvio Forel. In terms of raw strength, The Thief seems to be a bit older than Arya, and probably a bit larger and stronger, though this difference is minimal. Arya takes a slight edge in agility, with her Braavosi rapier techniques which emphasize agility, and is shown to be able to cartwheel out of the way of an adversary and immediately continue fighting. As for armor, The Thief wears a pair of plate armor vambraces on her wrists, which could be used like a buckler- blocking sword strikes with her forearm, but apart from that wears no armor. Arya also wears no armor. =Battle= Along a road, somewhere in the Vale of Arryn, Westeros Arya Stark walked along the lonely road leading the the port of Gulltown, where she would catch a ship, intending to travel to the Wall to meet her half-brother Jon Snow. At her side, Arya carried her sword, "Needle", as well as a dagger and a bag of coins taken from here now-dead captor turned traveling companion, Sandor "The Hound" Clegane. From out of the woods, a figure appeared, a girl a little older than Arya, with strawberry blonde hair, wearing an odd outfit, a white shirt, a green cape, a pair of plate vambraces, but no other armor, and, most oddly to Arya's eyes, a pair of what a person from 21st century Earth would describe as "shorts" and stockings, but had never before seen in medieval Westeros. "Fat sack of coin you've got there, Arya Stark", The Thief said in a foreign-sounding accent, though she had clearly been in Westeros long enough to understand the common tongue. Arya's face displayed a look of surprise, how did this oddly-dressed smallfolk know her name? Arya said, "I don't know who you are talking about. I am not this Arya Stark person you are looking for.". "Don't play dumb, the look of your face betrayed everything", The Thief said, "I'll be taking that sack of coin, and then I'll taking you to that knight lady, Brienne of Tarth. She seemed very interested in you, I suspect I could get a few Gold Dragons out of her in ransom." Arya realized immediately the the thief must have been talking about that woman in armor with the Valyrian steel sword that killed the Hound. She must be working for the Lannisters. Arya unsheathed Needle and held the rapier in front of her in an aggressive stance. She then thrust her sword at the Thief, who drew her sword and swung it downwards, parrying Arya's thrust. Arya jumped backwards, out of the bind, only to be greeted by a wide horizontal swing from the left aimed at throat from the Thief's longsword. However, she managed to parry the the attack, swinging Needle to position. The longsword ground along the side of Needle, before being stopped by the ring-shaped sideguard. Holding her foe's sword in the bind, Arya drew the dagger she had taken from The Hound and thrust it forward. The Thief raised her vambrace-clad wrist, parrying Arya's dagger strike, the dagger glancing off the steel armor. The thief then stepped backward and took downward swing at Arya, which she parried, along with a a second diagonal strike, rapidly moving Needle into position with a flick of her wrist. The Thief then pulled her arm back, sword over her shoulder, as though about to thrust. Instead, however, she brought her arm around and made a powerful downward diagonal slash at Arya. Arya parried the strike, but the force of impact was such the grip was levered outwards forcing Arya's fingers open. Needle was knocked out of Arya's hand and send flying end-over end through the air, sticking point down in the ground several yards away. Not one to give up, Arya picked up a stone from the ground and hurled it at the thief. She easily dodged and laughed. "Feel like giving up?", The Thief asked. In the moments she took to dodge the rock, and then taunt Arya, the Thief had left herself open. Arya lunged at her with the Hound's dagger as she said "Valar morghulis"- "All men must die" in High Valyrian. The Thief only just managed to raise her armored wrist in time to block the strike with the dagger, but Arya still hit her with the full force of the lunge, knocking the Thief on her back and causing her to drop her sword. Arya thrust the Hound's dagger downward at Thief's heart, but the Thief raised her left wrist, and placed it in front of the blade. The point of the dagger only barely pierced the armor, little more than a pinprick. The held Arya's hand back as she drew her cinquedea with her left hand and slashed at Arya's neck. Blood flowed out of the wound as Arya breathed her last, staining the Thief's white clothing. The thief pushed the body of her vanquished foe off of her. "So much for the ransom", The Thief said as she stole the bag of coins Arya had. Then, the thief thought of something. She had not damaged Arya's clothes in the fight, and that Brienne had seen her only briefly, and with her cloak over her head. It wouldn't be that hard to don Arya's clothes, wear a cloak over her head to hide her appearance, and disguise herself as her victim. The she could cut that woman-knight's throat in her sleep and take that Valyrian steel blade. Then, it was only a decision, sell the sword for a king's ransom in gold, or keep the supernaturally sharp and durable sword for herself. WINNER: The Thief Expert's Opinion I've killed off one of the most popular character in Game of Thrones, bring on the anon-rage! In any case, the Thief won this battle because of her superior weaponry, as well as her greater amount of combat experience, having spent years fighting, stealing, and killing. The Thief also had plate armor vambraces, which only covered a small amount of her body, but allowed her to use her wrist to block attacks. To see the original battle, weapons, and votes, click here. Category:Blog posts